Contents

Article XVI of the Oklahoma Constitution is entitled Public Roads, Highways, and Internal Improvements and consists of three sections.

Section 1

Text of Section 1:

Power of Legislature Respecting Highways

The Legislature is directed to establish a Department of
Highways, and shall have the power to create improvement
districts and provide for building and maintaining public roads,
and may provide for the utilization of convict and punitive labor
thereon.

Section 2

Text of Section 2:

Acceptance of Lands Granted or Reserved for Highway

The State of Oklahoma hereby accepts all reservations and lands
for public highways made under any grant, agreement, treaty, or
act of Congress: Provided, This section shall not be construed
to prejudice the vested rights of any tribe, allottee, or other
person to any such land.

Section 3

Text of Section 3:

System of Levees, Drains, and Ditches and Irrigation

The Legislature shall have power and shall provide for a system
of levees, drains, and ditches and of irrigation in this State
when deemed expedient, and provide for a system of taxation on
the lands affected or benefited by such levees, drains, and
ditches and irrigation, or on crops produced on such land, to
discharge such bonded indebtedness or expenses necessarily
incurred in the establishment of such improvements; and to
provide for compulsory issuance of bonds by the owners or lessees
of the lands benefited or affected by such levees, drains, and
ditches or irrigation.